“Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”
In the last few words of today’s Gospel reading, Jesus asks directly that others “may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” In the Prayer of Jesus in John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you.”
God, help me understand how Jesus models holiness: the gifts you gave me I have so that I can glorify you by my words and actions. What pleases you? What power do I have to let my light shine before others, not for myself but for others; not for my sake but for your glory?
When I try to quiet down and hear you, God, I feel as if I am a bundle of unpotentiated action. My thoughts of what I might accomplish have the opposite, unintended consequence of dragging me down, holding me back. God, I know you want me to sit with you in peace, not squirming, not wishing to get up and get on with things, but to recharge, to bask in your presence and know your love.
“A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden,” Jesus says. Today I have the opportunity to make my city gleam and give glory to my heavenly Father. It’s so easy to mess up; to make a mountain out of a molehill on any given day. But today I want to recognize and show others the gifts that God gave me for the sake of giving him glory.